George D. Morrishttp://www.readthehook.com/taxonomy/term/6231/all
enTowing trouble: Is Lethal owner back in biz? http://www.readthehook.com/108811/towing-trouble-lethal-owner-back-biz
<p>Mention the words "Lethal Wrecker" around Charlottesville and chances are you'll find someone with a story. For nearly a decade, the towing operation, and its owner, George Morris, earned a reputation for aggressive tactics including allegations of intimidation and overcharging, as reported by the <em>Hook</em>. Lawsuits ensued, including one by the City of Charlottesville, and Lethal lost its AAA contract only to reinvent itself in 2007 as an entity called Cavalier Towing, with Morris' mother at the helm. While Cavalier eventually shut down, Morris is still around, and one man says he had a run-in last winter that was reminiscent of the Lethal days of yore.</p>
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<h2>Related:</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/108795/towing-tales-part-deux-send-tow-ers-guns-and-money">Towing tales part deux: Wreckers, guns, and money</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/108818/have-you-ever-been-towed">Have you ever been towed?</a></p>
<h2>Previous:</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/103996/tow-talk-council-votes-form-advisory-board">Tow talk: Council votes 4-1 for advisory board</a></p>
<p>&#8211;&gt;<a href="http://www.readthehook.com/category/tags/lethal-wrecker-service">archived stories on Lethal Wrecker</a></p>
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<p>Harry Carter, a retired Sprint employee, says he parked at the Ferncliff Exxon on Kent's Store Road in Louisa County in late January after, he says, a store employee told his daughter that while the family traveled to Charlottesville for a UVA basketball game it would be okay to leave the vehicle "as long as it wasn't blocking anything."</p>
<p>However, when the 70-year-old Carter returned that night to retrieve his vehicle, he says it was gone. But not far. In fact, it had simply been towed around to the back of the building, where an operation called G&amp;A Auto and Wrecker Service had allegedly moved it. When he called the number posted, Carter says, a man answered and told him it would cost $125 for what amounted, Carter recalls, to a less than 400-foot-tow. The man demanded cash, which Carter says he didn't have.</p>
<p>"I was so angry," says Carter, who says he called Louisa Sheriff's department to have a deputy meet him at the service station and oversee the vehicle return to ensure the process went smoothly. Carter alleges that when the tow truck operator arrived, he told Carter the fee would actually be $150. Carter recognized him as Morris and informed him that the deputy was also on the way. Morris then departed and refused, Carter claims, to return the vehicle that night&#8211; for any amount of money.</p>
<p>"I had my car towed from Henrico County for less money than that," says Carter, who notes that the cost of his Henrico-to-Louisa tow was less than $100&#8211; and that the receipt he received when he retrieved his car the next day didn't show G&amp;A Auto and Wrecker but rather J&amp;M Wrecker, with a Charlottesville address.</p>
<p>A reporter called listings for both G&amp;A Auto and Wrecker and J&amp;M Wrecker and found George Morris at the latter shop. A man answering the phone at G&amp;A said Morris was "out sick." Despite the word "wrecker" in the name of both firms, Morris asserts that he doesn't perform public towing any more.</p>
<p>"I'm a repair shop now," says Morris, who became increasingly irate over the course of a conversation.</p>
<p>"I tow for myself," said Morris, declining to answer questions about Carter's tale of tow.</p>
<p>"What's the problem?" he asked before hanging up. "Why do you care?"</p>
<p>There are plenty of local vehicle owners who might offer an answer for that.<br /><br /></p>
http://www.readthehook.com/108811/towing-trouble-lethal-owner-back-biz#comments_BreakingNewsFeaturedGeorge D. Morrislethal wrecker serviceCover StoriesMon, 26 Nov 2012 17:57:38 +0000courteney108811 at http://www.readthehook.comCourt report: Tales of two wrecker companieshttp://www.readthehook.com/97670/fearless-consumer-court-report-tales-two-wrecker-companies
<p>Noted towing company owner George Morris savored a rare victory in Albemarle County Circuit Court last week when he was found not guilty of assault. I say "rare" because Morris, who owns Lethal Wrecker, has cut an impressive swath through local courts over the last decade, beginning with a 1995 conviction for assault and battery of a woman in Crozet.</p>
<p>His appearances over the past two years&#8211; or, more precisely, his <i>non</i>appearances, as he usually declines to attend legal proceedings&#8211; have mainly been for either charging more than state law allows for towing or for damaging the towed cars, and have resulted in thousands of dollars in fines.</p>
<p>Morris's August 31 trial was short but lively, and more than a little strange. First, Morris was not accused of touching his accuser, Freddie Buttner. Legally, "assault" can also mean verbal threats. Second, the alleged dustup was videotaped, and the videotape&#8211; which was viewed by everyone in the courtroom&#8211; was about as menacing as a picnic at the old folks' home.</p>
<p>Buttner, who had previously worked at Lethal, joined Charlottesville Wrecker last November as a tow-truck driver. On January 30, he got a call from dispatcher Lori Rankins, who said Morris was looking for him and believed Buttner had stolen two L-arms&#8211; pieces of towing equipment&#8211; from Morris, who wanted them back.</p>
<p>About an hour later, Buttner glimpsed Morris at the Liberty gas station on Pantops and pulled in. He stopped the wrecker near Morris, who was pumping gas into his pickup, and testified that Morris "started yelling" at him. Buttner denied that he'd taken the L-arms, at which point, he stated, Morris stripped off his jacket and approached the wrecker.</p>
<p>"He was upset," Buttner testified&#8211; so much so that Morris's girlfriend got out of the pickup and told him to calm down. Instead, Buttner says Morris threatened to "pull him out" of the wrecker, and, at one point, reached inside the driver's-side window but stopped short of touching him. Buttner, saying he didn't want to risk things turning physical, drove off.</p>
<p>The surveillance tape from Liberty gas, as I said, was a wash. A monitor was wheeled in, and the tape was played, but if the confrontation had been explosive enough to warrant Morris's arrest, you couldn't tell from the tape.</p>
<p>Judge Paul Sheridan's decision hinged on whether Buttner had reasonable cause to fear imminent danger. Pointing out that Buttner was free to simply drive away, he declared Morris not guilty&#8211; and Morris, clearly elated, exited the courtroom with Lethal dispatcher Donielle Messner.</p>
<p>The drama in this case came from testimony by the two companies' dispatchers. Messner testified that during a discussion of the missing L-arms, she'd asked Morris why Buttner "was driving around flipping off our drivers." And Rankins, night dispatcher and bookkeeper for Charlottesville Wrecker, testified, "It's no secret there's no love lost between the two companies."</p>
<p>Even the most ardent local crime buff may have missed what, for me, is the most intriguing aspect of the case: the fact that Rankins is again working as a bookkeeper. In 1998, Rankins was convicted of embezzling $86,000 from Edgecomb's Imported Auto Sales &amp; Service, by which time she'd racked up three convictions in the City for worthless checks and petit larceny and one in the County for welfare fraud. For the embezzlement rap, she was sentenced to five years with all but 30 days suspended.</p>
<p>Now she's keeping Charlottesville Wrecker's books&#8211; and making restitution to Edgecomb's at the rate of $50 a month. Betsy Edgecomb, who was amused to hear that Rankins is again working around money, says that she frequently skips payments for a month or two&#8211; but never for three: According to the terms of her sentence, three months and she's out. Or, more precisely, she's <i>in</i>&#8211; as in jail, if a judge sees fit. At this rate, the debt will be paid somewhere around 2145.</p>
<p><i>Do you have a consumer problem or question? Email the Fearless Consumer or write her at Box 4553, Charlottesville 22905. </i></p>
http://www.readthehook.com/97670/fearless-consumer-court-report-tales-two-wrecker-companies#commentsGeorge D. Morrislethal wrecker serviceLori RankinsFearless ConsumerWed, 29 Jun 2011 03:02:45 +0000Barbara Nordin97670 at http://www.readthehook.com